THE HISTORY OF DAVENPORTS

A family business since 1928, Davenports have consistently delivered a high standard of products in many forms over the years from the early days as the renowned bakery & shops H Davenport

BEGINNING OF THE FLORISTS

Harry Fry Davenport, Harry’s son chose not to follow in his father’s footsteps, but had his heart in growing flowers & plants, so set up HF Davenport then when Ian, his son joined the business this became HF Davenport & Son which later became Davenports Florists & Nurserymen, then as the business refocused Davenports Florists in Bartington & Hartford & which included several shops under different trading names Haslehurst & Tomlinsons Interflora.

ALMOST 100 YEARS OF GREAT FOOD STORIES

Bridge Farm itself has a history of food and was believed to have had a cyclist café in the early 1920’s. When Harry Davenport purchased it, the house was rented out to an American GI from Kentucky, Hank and his English bride Eileen Day, who opened an American/English restaurant from about 1954 till approximately 1959. There they served possibly the first Southern fried chicken in the UK & served it in a basket, another possible first

BEGINNING OF THE TEA ROOM

In 2006, Davenports sold the off site flower shops and opened Davenports Farm Shop, which won many awards including the Countryside Alliance North West Regional Finalist. The following year, Davenports Tea Room opened, and went from strength to strength

LISTED in BRITAIN MAGAZINE’s TOP 10  PLACES FOR AFTERNOON TEA

Ultimately Davenports have come full circle. Davenports Tea Room featured on BBC Breakfast, having won the prestigious Tea Guild’s Top Tea Room Award in 2013, and remain as the last ever winner.  Few awards are as strict having been judged by anonymous tea inspectors (on numerous occasions) with guidelines across 16 categories including brewing, knowledge of tea, décor, efficiency of service, tea appearance and flavour. Davenports Tea Room received this award after gaining a near perfect score by the Tea Guild’s highly impressed judges.  More recently, Davenports Tea Room was listed as one of the Top 10 Places for Afternoon Tea in Britain magazine 2023.  A quintessential English Tea Room, serving afternoon tea only, with over 50 speciality loose leaf teas, served in bone china and brewed to customers liking.

SCONES & SUCCESS

After winning the award, Davenports Tea Room were invited to Hankyu British Fair in Japan 2013 to make scones & were the first tea room to be asked back in 44 years. During the 10 day event they made over 12,000 scones & then in 2014 made almost 18,000

Davenports Tea Room and Davenports Cruises have since featured on further TV programmes: Channel 4 ‘Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is’ and Channel 5 ‘Digging Up Britain’s Past’

ADDITION OF OUR CRUISES

To the addition of afternoon tea in the tea room, Davenports offer afternoon tea on board their own vintage style narrow boat, as a private party afternoon tea cruise, a fish & chip evening cruise, or we now offer the new Ultimate Cream Tea Experience Cruise with our own Afternoon Tea Expert, who will give fascinating stories of how afternoon tea developed, etiquette along with a spot of tea tasting which includes some rare teas.

SURVIVING A PANDEMIC

Davenports have diversified over the years and built their customer base on repeat business and recommendations, so that in the face of competition and even after a pandemic, the business remains strong and now operates the tea room for pre-booked celebration Afternoon Teas Fri-Mon, Afternoon Tea @home delivered locally, Afternoon Tea Cruises on board our own vintage style narrow boat and delivers locally hand-made beautiful bouquets.  So lots of reasons to visit Davenports